Vehicles today employ various methods to reduce undesirable components of emissions. A catalytic converter is one component found in most vehicles that assists in reducing undesirable components found in vehicle emissions. One of the biggest shortcomings of the catalytic converter, however, is that it generally provides its highest efficiency at fairly high temperatures. This does not present a problem during normal operation of a vehicle because the heat generated by the vehicle's engine heats the catalytic converter. During a cold start of a vehicle, however, the engine is not able to heat the catalytic converter for a short period. During this short period, the catalytic converter does not operate at a desirable efficiency to reduce undesirable components in the vehicle's exhaust.
In one configuration to reduce emissions during a cold start, the temperature of the catalytic converter can be quickly raised without using heat generated by the engine. To raise the temperature of the catalytic converter in these situations, many vehicles are equipped with a secondary air system. The secondary air system typically includes a compact air pump that compresses and forces air into an exhaust manifold that contains the catalytic converter. As emissions from the engine enter the exhaust manifold, they encounter the compressed air and oxidize. The oxidation of the emissions quickly raises the temperature of the catalytic converter. This allows the catalytic converter to operate efficiently and reduce the toxicity of emissions even during a cold start. This efficiency comes at a price, however, since the required air pump tends to be expensive and at times unreliable. What is needed is a better way to supply compressed air to the exhaust manifold during a cold start to enable efficient operation of the catalytic converter.